Under the Cherry Tree
by Yamadori
Summary: Blue Dragon Anime, Season One. Birthday present for Prince of Tennis' Shaman. Between Episodes 31 and 32. Jiro discovers that taking a break isn't such a bad thing after all. Jiro x Kluke, Zola/Jiro friendship


**To all: Hi, guys, and Happy Father's Day! :D Hope it's been going well for everyone. :) I'm sorry **_**Braving the Storm**_** is taking so long; for the last few days, I've been having an exhausting and worrying time of it, and my writing's been suffering for it. The chapter is essentially done, but it has to be looked over – on top of that, I'm very unhappy with how it came out, but feel that I'll need to upload it soon regardless since everyone's been waiting for it. Anyway, I'm getting off track… In addition to the Jiro x Kluke and Jiro/Zola friendship, there's also some light/one-sided(?) Shu x Bouquet and light Jiro/Shu friendship, but not anymore than what you might find in the regular series. Also, forgive me if the mentions of Episode 31 aren't accurate - it's been a while since I watched it. (Note: ****The title is inspired by an old TV show for kids, from the early '90's. Free Blue Dragon drabble (or possibly a oneshot), about a subject (or multiple subjects) of your choosing, to whoever can guess what it is. ;))**

**To An: Hey, I'm finally on time this year! :D This was actually going to be a oneshot that I just posted during the cherry blossom season, but I missed that (though I was still going to finish and upload it sometime anyway), and the story I had planned for your birthday present wasn't turning out very well, so… Anyway. I hope you've been having a nice birthday, and that this will maybe add to it somewhat. I'm not sure whether or not this tops **_**For Every Year**_**, but I think the writing style is much improved (it tempts me to go back and revise **_**For Every Year**_**, now with a clearer head, but I promised myself I'd leave it alone after I published it, save for any grammatical or spelling errors I happen to catch). Well, then, I think I've rambled quite enough, so go ahead and read it (and hopefully enjoy it)! :)**

**Disclaimer: I do not own the Blue Dragon anime. If I did, there would've been more Jiro x Kluke in both seasons. :P **

Books and green tea.

Boy, did Zola ever know how to lure him in.

Other things might've worked better, but it was all she had available. It was all she needed, anyway. It seemed that whenever Zola wanted and/or needed him to do something – something, usually, for his own good, though he usually tended to disagree until she'd proven him right - she always knew what to use.

In this case, what she wanted him to do was go with her and the rest of the group - to view cherry blossoms.

"It's that time of year, and they don't stay for long, after all," she had told him following his incredulous double take after she'd announced what they would be doing. "Besides, we've earned a break."

Well, looked like it was official - he, Jiro, seemed to be the last sane person in the group.

Either that, or Zola had something in mind for him. (The latter was more likely, but, as previously mentioned, Jiro wasn't inclined to agree until he'd been proven wrong.)

So, that's how he found himself here, sitting on a blanket with his back against one of the cherry trees. The group had made a sort of circle - on his left, Zola, followed by Marumaro, then Shu, then Bouquet (who clung to Shu's arm, rarely ceasing). The basket containing their food was beside her, so that put Kluke directly to Jiro's right. It was probably for the best that Kluke and Bouquet had been separated, though the basket didn't offer much of a barrier; with the way that Bouquet hung onto Shu so diligently, the two girls would probably never have stopped fighting. As it was, with Bouquet's clinging and hugging (more than half of the time with a good deal of her chest being involved) and ever-present delighted murmurings of "Darling", it had put Kluke into the foulest of moods.

Jiro didn't exactly feel comfortable sitting beside Kluke when she was so dour - mostly because when she got into such a bad temper, people usually got hurt (particularly, though not exclusively, Marumaro - though Shu was the primary victim if the stormy disposition had been caused specifically by Bouquet) - but... he didn't really feel _un_comfortable, either. Out of everyone - besides Zola, of course - Jiro was the closest with Kluke, and though he would never admit it, rarely did he not enjoy her presence.

Besides, he couldn't really blame her; because of the break - or, what Jiro considered slacking off on their quest - he'd been put into a pretty foul mood of his own.

"I still don't see why we're wasting our time like this." Jiro now says to Zola on the aside, his scowl deepening as he barely sees the words on the page of the book in front of him. They were so close now - they were starting to acquire their new powers, the key that would allow them to defeat Nene, and it was making him more eager than ever to put the Ancient's reign of terror to an end. Yet here they were, just sitting and doing nothing!

"I already told you why," Zola seems more amused with him than she has the right to, or so Jiro thinks. But her next words are careful yet gentle, "Though also, you could think of this as a reminder," she leans closer to him, talking more quietly so only he will hear, placing a hand on his shoulder. "A reminder, to all of us, that we should appreciate the things that we hold dear, because we never know how soon they could fade." She then gives him what appears to be a knowing look, but he can't understand what it means.

Before he has the chance to ask, Zola has already pulled back, responding to some question Marumaro just asked her.

Jiro lets out an annoyed sigh. _I don't know why I bother trying to figure her out._ Zola is a mystery, indeed...

_Things we hold dear..._ Jiro almost snorts out loud. _As if I hold something dear to me anymore._ Anything he'd cared about had gone up in flames. But...

He casts a subtle glance at the Shadow Users around him, eventually letting his gaze stop at Zola. Maybe that thought wasn't actually true. From the corner of his eye, he notices Kluke looking a bit forlorn, and has an impulse to say something to her...

_Stop that._ Jiro quickly dives into his book again; as before, looking at the words and not comprehending them. But it's better than just sitting there and letting his mind wander. _A wandering mind leads to trouble._ He nods to himself slightly.

"What a horrible way to spend the day," he hears Kluke mutter; another sidelong glance reveals that the target of her glare is Bouquet (though it had been that way pretty much since they'd gotten here). "It could've been a nice day, too, if she wasn't..." She trails off.

And then she's looking at Jiro. "What are you reading?" Her tone has changed, becoming much more polite, the only truly evident thing being curiosity. She smiles, a bit weakly. "It must be pretty interesting, whatever it is, considering how intently you're reading it."

"Oh..." In a surprising, and rather flustering, realization, Jiro discovers that he has no idea what this book is. He gives the page a quick scan, but quickly stops - it makes things more confusing than they already are. So he does the first thing that comes to mind - he holds up the book for her to see, trying to give her a good view of both the spine and cover, in case the title happens to be absent from one of them.

Kluke's eyes pass over it, seemingly reading - but her eyebrows quickly furrow. She appears to look over it a few times, but the perplexity remains. After several seconds pass, her eyes widen in realization - and then she takes the book from him, flipping it upside down. "'World Atlas'." She reads, brow now smoothed, smiling brightly. She adds, "You might want to try to read it right-side up next time."

Jiro sink back against the tree bark, wanting nothing more than to hide under the closest rock. _Well, so much for looking smooth._ And he had _known_ that he shouldn't have put it down! To retain some dignity, he swallows hard before saying, "Sorry. I... My mind's been elsewhere today."

"I know what you mean." She suddenly leans against the tree, right beside him; it makes Jiro acutely aware of how close together they are. "Is it good, though? The atlas? We had only one, single atlas book in all of Talta that wasn't very good, and we never got to see it much because it was in the school; the adults were afraid of it being taken since there was only one, so they made a rule that only teachers could take the books off the shelves. I never really saw an _actual_ atlas until Shu and I came with you and Zola." Kluke pauses for a moment. "You know, I guess I didn't really know that much about anything until I came on this journey."

"I haven't noticed. You seem knowledgeable enough to me."

Kluke laughs. "Yeah, about machines and a few scraps of history, but not much else."

The two settle into a silence after that, which is oddly comfortable (though Kluke's fingers would flex whenever Bouquet made some kind of contact with Shu, but that had been happening anyway).

Their shoulders touch lightly. Neither has an inclination to move. Jiro relaxes a little. _This is... kind of nice._

* * *

It takes them all by surprise when the wind picks up.

The first gust nearly tips over the basket and has the blanket flying up wherever it isn't anchored down by someone or something. None of them really see this, though, because their lines of vision are obscured by a light pink mass of cherry blossom petals that were blown off the tree and off the ground.

The second gust sends the blossom petals flying roughly westward. With a happy cry, Bouquet leaps to her feet and dashes in that direction, dragging a bewildered Shu behind her.

Jiro is surprised to find that Zola is staring at him. Not long after he discovers this, though, she leans toward Marumaro and says something to him. When she stands and heads after Bouquet and Shu, Marumaro follows her.

Jiro blinks at the departing backside of the ever-deepening conundrum that is Zola. _I'm not even going to _try_ to figure out what that meant._

He hears Kluke mutter angrily behind him, "Well, she took off with Shu fast enough."

Jiro turns - and stops, looking at Kluke's petal-covered hair. There is no thought and no hesitation when he reaches out and brushes them from off.

Kluke goes very still, eyes locked on him, blush spreading across her face. Her green eyes stand out from all of the pink. "J-Jiro..."

He looks away quickly. "You... had some blossoms in your hair." He busies himself with brushing the cherry blossoms off his tunic. He does not want to explain to her what just occurred, under any terms whatsoever. He will be perfectly fine with pretending that it never happened. At least, that's what he tells himself as he studiously ignores the buzzing thoughts bouncing around in his head. _Why did I do that? Kluke can brush out her own hair; there was no reason to do that! What's wrong with me? Zola's weird, bizarre behavior drove me crazy; that's the only reasonable explanation._

He refuses to think about how soft her hair was. It doesn't cross his mind. At all.

He says to himself.

"You..." She pauses, then with more certainty, "There're some petals in your hair, too." She reaches out, but he only feels a ghost of a touch on the top of his head. Instead, her hand seems to go instantly to that stubborn lock that's near-constantly in front of his eyes, and tucks it behind his ear. Unlike when he goes to straighten it out, it does not instantly spring back. She pulls back bashfully, eyes adverted.

Her head, still lowered, suddenly tilts to the side as Jiro laces his fingers with hers, before pulling Kluke to her feet. She looks up at him inquisitively.

He smiles at her.

She smiles back.

Neither says a word; it isn't needed.

* * *

The night air is crisp, the campfire warm. It's a familiar atmosphere, one that they're all used to and can easily find comfort in. Kluke, Shu, Marumaro and Bouquet are already asleep; Jiro should be too, but he has something he needs to do first.

He finds Zola in front of the campfire; she's snapping a twig into little pieces. "I'm glad you spent the day with Kluke. It was good for both of you." She tosses the tiny bits of wood into the fire; there's a slight popping noise each time another is thrown in and swallowed by the flames.

"I knew that you were watching us." There is borderline irritation in his voice, but his curiosity outweighs it. Besides, if he gets too agitated, Zola will tell him to go cool off and he won't find out anything.

"Know me that well, do you?" She flashes a quick grin; when it's gone, she closes her eyes and sighs. "I'm sorry if I was a little elusive today. I only wanted you to see that there are still things, still people, in this world that matter to you. That you care about. I also wanted you to relax a little and enjoy yourself. I knew Kluke would help you to do that; I've been noticing that the only times you truly smile are around her."

Jiro flushes, training his eyes on the ground and hoping she can't see his face in the darkness. He hopes his cheeks aren't terribly red, but knows how unlikely that is; it feels like the embarrassment is threatening to burn him alive.

Zola glances at him from the corner of her eye. "She enjoys being around you, too."

"She does?" He curses himself for the eagerness in his voice. For sounding like a... like a...

Like a ten year old kid.

... Which he is.

Jiro desperately wants to groan.

Zola nods slightly. "Jiro... I know you want to defeat Nene, to make him pay for what happened to Mafe. You've wanted that since the day you came with me, and you're hurting now as much as you were then. But as we're getting closer to accomplishing that, I want you to remember... Revenge is sometimes empty. It doesn't always take away the pain of loss. Be mindful that there are other ways of easing grief and sorrow." She meaningfully glances at Kluke's sleeping bag.

"... Alright." Jiro says it with some reluctance. He knows he'll never be able to let go of the goal of ending Nene's life; it had been the only thing keeping him going for too long. But, afterwards... Spending some time with Kluke wouldn't be such a bad thing, would it? At least, as long as she didn't mind... From what Zola had said, maybe she'd even want to. The thought warms Jiro more than the campfire ever could.

Zola ruffles his hair affectionately; Jiro yelps in indignation. "Get some sleep, Jiro. We move out in the morning."

A few seconds later and Jiro is pulling up the blankets on the bedspread. He quietly growls out his annoyance when he gets a jab in the ribs from Shu's knee. The annoyance, however, is half of what it would have been two weeks ago. He thinks back to a few days ago, thinks of how Shu stood in his place, attacked repeatedly by Szabo and his powerful Mecha Robo allies, when it should have been Jiro standing there instead. Thinks of how because of Jiro's own pride and stupidity, Shu almost... almost _died_...

Jiro's stomach knots. It takes a while before it relaxes.

Jiro stares at the starry sky for a long time, thinking hard and about many things. Before sleep manages to finally claim him, he thinks about how he's lost his family. But if he doesn't push them away, he might have a chance to gain another.

* * *

As the mechat flies through the sky, the air rushing past is warm, in accordance with the sunny spring day. Looking over the side, Jiro sees the occasional pink of a cherry tree in season - the beautiful blossoms fade quickly, and probably have less than a week left, but he knows they will hang on for as long as they can. He finds parallels with that and the group's goal, and feels encouraged.

He walks slowly towards Kluke, taking his time as he glances at the swiftly passing landscape beneath them. When he reaches her, he lightly leans on the pilot's chair with one arm. "How are you doing?"

"Fine." She smiles at him warmly. "And you?"

"Well enough." He waits. They settle into a silence void of tension. When she seems like she's focused enough on her flying, Jiro reaches over and brushes some hair out of Kluke's eyes.

When Kluke jumps and locks bewildered eyes on him, Jiro says simply, "You had some hair in front of your face."

"_You_!" Giggling, she swats his arm playfully. Jiro grins, tries to get out of her reach, but she's determined to succeed. When her hand connects, he laughs for the first time in what feels like forever.

When they've calmed down, Kluke gives him a fond smile. "I don't think I've ever heard you laugh for real."

He grins. "I thought I'd forgotten how."

Jiro has to resist letting out a sigh when the others choose _that_ exact moment to come bustling out of the cabin. He sidles up to the pilot's chair again, hoping that he'll get the chance to say what he'd come over here for without anyone hearing him.

When it seems safe enough, Jiro softly says, "I'm glad I met you, Kluke."

The words seem to startle her slightly. But she recovers quickly, though a shy smile and blush grace her features. "... I'm glad I met you, too, Jiro."

Jiro stares out at what lays ahead of them and, like he hasn't since his village's destruction, knows that the future may hold something to look forward to.

… **And, done! :D Well, that turned out better than I expected. Might be a bit too wordy, but I think I (hopefully) kept it from being overbearing. But as for how good it is, I'll leave that for all of you to decide. :) On that note, if you can, please review and let me know your thoughts on it. For everyone who may be waiting for it, **_**Braving the Storm**_** will probably be uploaded in the next few days, even though it probably needs more time for editing and revising. I think that's everything I need to mention, though. Thanks for reading! And, of course, one last thing:**

**Happy birthday, An! :D**


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